NIA : Engine Homologation 2008

just read a throwaway remark by james allen that the race engines need to be handed over for homologation for the next five years, after the Malaysian GP.

i try to read all the sources, and i think this is the first time that i have seen this mentioned. i thought we were a year and a bit into the current 5-year homologation, is this a new engine cycle that i have missed?

without a race distance on any of the Ferrari engines, and possibly two or three failures in the first weekend, is that going to be a problem? when did max manage to sneak this one in?

this thread is clearly marked NIA: No Imbeciles Allowed, if you have any reason to believe that you have imbecilic tendencies, you are asked not to partake in this particular thread ... i would suggest this system be more widely adopted.

Originally posted by archstanton just read a throwaway remark by james allen that the race engines need to be handed over for homologation for the next five years, after the Malaysian GP.

i try to read all the sources, and i think this is the first time that i have seen this mentioned. i thought we were a year and a bit into the current 5-year homologation, is this a new engine cycle that i have missed?

The engine freeze has been tightened further to include ancillary parts as of Malaysia 2008. And BTW, it is possible for a manufacturer to modify a part despite the freeze, as long as they can prove it is for reliability reasons and not performance.

from what ive read in autosport, once the most reliable ferrari engine survives two races, it will have to be handed over to the FIA. for example, with no renault engine problems this weekend, if any one of the renault engines survives malaysia then they have to present it to the FIA for homologation. Not entirely sure about ferrari and the fact that the works ferrari engines had problems while the STRs and the FIf1s retired for non-engine-related issues (i heard bourdais had a gearbox problem).

yes i knew that the current freeze isn't absolute, and a little bit of tinkering round the edges still goes on.

... but it was the new homologation - i know BMW were on really thin ice just before the initial engine freeze, and sweated it out as one car made it over the line in brazil to give them a recent spec engine that had completed sufficient race distance (otherwise they would have had to roll back to a much, much earlier spec)

as it stands, no 2008 season ferrari manufactured engine has completed a race distance ... if they are relying on an STR gearbox, a force india to avoid turn 1 collision or a ferrari fuel pump lasting a race distance, could get tricky ... is there the possibility that they may have to roll back to a 2007 engine to comply with regulations. (and take a minor hit all the way down the line with no 2008 ancillary engine mods available)

it'll probably come to nothing and they'll easily manage to get some sort of car over the finishing line, but still, probably one more thing for the ferrari engineers to worry about in the short one week turn around.